ABSTRACT
The Act has been adopted by six States (Goa, Himalchal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu) and all the Union Territories. However, it is only under consideration in West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh. In its first two years of existence, Nundy (1996) reports that three heart transplants and more than 20 renal transplants were performed using organs obtained from brain stem dead, heart-beating cadavers. However, the law has not had the success in regulating and regularising organ transplants in India, particularly in relation to commercial practices using human organs. There are a number of problems with the Act. To begin with, it is a federal law, which means it has to be extended to individual States, such as Uttar Pradesh, where the Noida Medical Centre is situated. This Centre is a large private hospital which provides, inter alia, live kidney donors, but since the law does not apply to it, it has no need to follow any guidelines. Police action has been taken since the inception of the Act against physicians or middlemen who have breached the Act. But news reports continue to filter through about organs being removed form donors who claim they have been duped into consenting to such operations. The Secretary General of the Indian Medical Association has said that allegations of having kidneys ‘stolen’ are not true and that it is more likely that the donor/seller felt he did not receive adequate compensation for the organ donation. Irrespective of the real situation, there is clearly more that needs to be done about the human organ transplantation situation in India, despite its legislation and efforts to respect the autonomy of donors and to demonstrate respect for persons, whether dead or alive.
